“We’re not going to let them run the football up and down the field,” Fusco said. “If they want to beat us passing, fine.”

Mountain Lakes held Butler's potent rushing attack to just 94 yards and kept Ryan Cirillo, one of the county's top backs, to 68 yards on the ground as Mountain Lakes won the battle of unbeaten teams with a 20-10 victory Saturday at Wilkins Field in Mountain Lakes.

“I’m so proud of our kids,” Fusco said. “This is one heck of a win. That’s a great football team over there.”

Butler (5-1) had rushed for nearly 700 yards in its previous two games, and Cirillo came in averaging 148.

“Offense can win games, but defense wins championships,” Mountain Lakes' Jake Schuckman, who had two sacks and an interception, said. “I love this defense. Every kid on this defense is like a family. It’s awesome.”

Fusco said the defensive game plan implemented throughout the week was simple. Every time Cirillo touched the ball, put a hit on him. If he gained yards off broken tackles, so be it, but no yardage earned would come easily.

“Number 28 is explosive. We knew we had to pound on him quite a bit, and we did that,” Fusco said.

Butler’s read-option was rendered ineffective and the game fell on the shoulders of quarterback Glen Reger.

Mountain Lakes defensive coordinator Matt Stanzione then unleashed his pass rushers, and put the QB under constant pressure. The defense intercepted Reger twice, forced a fumble and sacked him four times.

“Our defense just has that nastiness about us,” Fusco said. “We’re a defensive football team, no question about it. That’s the strength of this team.”

On offense, Mountain Lakes (6-0) turned to its stable of running backs to fuel an offense that came in averaging 33 points per game. Chris Sammarro, Christian Cuccinello and John Spagnola headlined an attack that gained 353 yards on the ground.

“All of the credit goes to our offensive line,” Cuccinello, who rushed for 159 yards and two scores on 12 carries, said. “It’s not just our fullback plays or halfback plays that work, it’s everything.

“After we lost to Madison in the playoffs last year, our line put in so much work in the off-season to get better. It really is a pleasure to run behind them.”

Mountain Lakes came in without one runner with over 300 yards on the ground, but it did have 1,200 yards of rushing on the season. That depth at the running back position makes it impossible for a defense to focus on one player, and that has been a key to Mountain Lakes’ offensive success.

Mountain Lakes led by just three points with seven minutes left when Sammarro, who had just 17 rushing yards to the point, broke off a 65-yard run, icing Mountain Lakes’ victory.

“That was a fun one,” Sammarro said, “I got a really nice block, turned the corner and just saw the end zone and took off. It was a big play."

Mountain Lakes’ is now just three victories away from its second-straight undefeated regular season, but before it turns its attention to next week’s opponent Boonton, Fusco says the team may be deserving of a little celebration.

“Oh the kids will be getting a day or two off, they deserve it anytime you win a game like this,” Fusco said. “Boonton is a great opponent and a pretty big rival, but I’ll worry about that tomorrow morning.

“Tonight, we’re going to enjoy this tonight. For us to beat a team like this in a game like this, I’m just so excited for our program.”